Referee Program

U.S. Soccer is committed to producing a variety of referee education resources aimed at supporting the program's approximate 140,000 members across the country that service amateur games at the youth and adult levels.

High quality instruction provided by the 55 State Referee Associations is paramount to the success of the U.S. Soccer Federation Referee Program. To this end, information and resources developed by U.S. Soccer are readily available online so that officials, instructors, assignors and assessors can be trained more consistently and efficiently nationwide.

In addition to supporting development within the State Referee Associations, U.S. Soccer also focuses on identifying officials with the potential to succeed at the professional and international levels. To further these efforts, U.S. Soccer assigns a network of highly qualified staff to various elite-level regional and national events where quantitative and qualitative is gathered to identify the program's up-and-coming and top performing officials.

These efforts also directly support the selection and training of National Candidates and National Officials. U.S. Soccer's technical staff conducts a highly selective process to review and approve a finite number of National Candidates and National Officials on an annual basis. These officials then receive training from U.S. Soccer in preparation of working some of the nation's most competitive events and leagues, including professional matches.

The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is responsible for managing referee programs for the professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada. Its mission is to provide world class match officials for all professional soccer in North America.

U.S. Soccer and MLS govern and fund the organization, with ongoing collaborative support from the Canadian Soccer Association and other professional leagues. PRO assigns games played in MLS, NASL, USL, and the NWSL.